“Kidisms”

Ms Action (5)- A few months back Haley and the kids were at the block party while I was at work, later I heard that they had a mini-talent show, and that Ms Action without asking for permission or telling anyone. went up to the microphone and announced that her talent was dancing, and then proceeded to twirl for the whole crowd. I got emotional when Haley was telling me the story, I have a daughter who is brave and confident. She didn’t have to worry about getting in trouble for doing something without asking, she didn’t have to worry about how her actions might reflect back on her family, she just likes to dance, so she went ahead and danced.

Despite all my fears of the new territory of school, she is doing great in kindergarten, and really loves her teacher and is making friends. She also recently lost her first tooth. One day as she got off the bus I could tell she was a little out of sorts, she stomped ahead of me on the way home saying something about needing a snack. Ms Drama trailed behind her chatting about how our day had gone when Ms Action whirled around and declared “Stop talking so much! I have been around kids all day.”

A few days back she came to me and announced that her friend had said that babies come out of butts, and was that true? I explained that it wasn’t exactly true, that babies can come out of the uterus through the vagina (she knows what and where a vagina is), which is kind of like a tunnel, and that sometimes if a baby couldn’t get out that way that a Doctor could help by doing a surgery called a C-section to make a big enough cut on the mama’s belly so the baby could come out that way. She processed this information for a moment and then said “that’s weird mom.” I said “It is kind of weird isn’t it, how did you think babies came out?” and she pointed to her belly button. She thought for a minute again and then said matter-of-factly, “I’m not having babies when I grow up.”

Ms Drama (4)- learned to ride her bike without training wheels this summer, she was very persistent and spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to keep her balance and gain speed. I think she is proud to have achieved no training wheels before her older sister. She also seems to be enjoying being the oldest child at home while Ms Action is at school, since she gets a chance to hang out with me and direct the play with her siblings. She is still very particular about her outfits, but has been learning how to put her clothes away so she will always be able to find an outfit she like.

Recently we were sitting in the car waiting for something and this song went on.

After a few minutes I heard Ms Drama’s somewhat incredulous voice pipe up from behind me. “Mom, these people think its always a good time, and it’s not.”

Ms Pooky (3)- Sidled up to me the other day and said “Mom, you are such a good diaper changer! And I pooped and peed.” She can be kind of daredevil, and ended up jumping off of a chair and whacking her head on a window sill. Her bruise and cut on her forehead really didn’t slow her down at all. She continues to run around like a maniac and challenge her siblings to contests of jumping, running, climbing and spinning. Recently one morning I was expressing some irritation over a hotdog having been left on the kitchen floor prompting a swarm of tiny black ants to appear out of nowhere, when Ms Pooky woke up and wandered out in the kitchen and plopped down on her stomach to watch the ants travel back and forth saying “Look mom! It’s my friends the baby ants! They are so cute! They are so happy to have a home to live in! Look! They are waving to me!”

She has a stuffed cow which goes with her everywhere, whom she has dubbed “baby jaguar” after Diego’s companion in “Go Diego Go!” I put her “jaguar” and Ms Drama’s stuffed lion through the wash machine the other day, and they sat outside the wash machine the whole time talking to their animals and having them talk back in squeaky voices from inside the wash machine. “How are you doing in there baby jaguar?” “I’m Ok!” “Are you getting all clean Lion?” “Yes! And I’m getting dizzy!” To which Ms Pooky sighed and said “ I wish I was small enough to get washed in the wash machine.

Mr Punk (1)- Is still not talking, but gets his point across very well. He says “adih” when he wants to nurse. And scowls and shakes his head when he doesn’t agree with something. If he hears me looking for something, he will run and grab some random object and bring it to me, proud to be helpful even though whatever he just handed me isn’t anything close to what I was looking for. Yesterday he lugged a large stuffed monkey into the room and laid it on a chair, and then solemnly took a roll of toilet paper and tore off several pieces to wipe the monkey with, first time I’ve seen him do a diaper change, complete with tickling the monkey afterwards.